At first, what appears to be just a typical
late winter film release actually turns out to be a high point in genre
cinema. In the year 2000, David Twohy, the screenwriter for such action
films as The Fugitive, Waterworld, and G.I. Jane, cowrites and directs a
science fiction and horror thriller that would go on to define not only
his career but the careers of two of its lead actors, establish one of
cinema’s greatest antiheroes since John Carpenter’s Snake Plissken, and
build a cult following that rivals such films as Night of the Living
Dead.
Pitch Black, a science fiction horror film
that falls into no specific niche, has been compared to such movies as
Alien, Predator, Ghost of Mars, and countless other science fiction
films of years gone by. When a meteor storm forces the crash landing
of a transport spacecraft on what appears to be an uninhabited desert
planet, the group of survivors, including a sociopathic convict, endure
the best they can with what little supplies they have. When they
discover a deserted mining district, the mystery of what happened to a
once thriving community turns into a nightmare.
Radha Mitchell and Vin Diesel star among a
wonderful supporting cast in career defining roles. Radha Mitchell
would go on to become a leading lady and one of the top scream queens of
the past decade starring in such films as Surrogates, Silent Hill, and
The Crazies. Vin Diesel’s performance as the antihero Riddick made him
an instant superstar and one of Hollywood’s top draws at the box office.
Your hosts, Mike and Philip, discuss the intricacies of the movie and
how each character’s failings become observations of the ambiguity of
human nature. With viewpoints of utilitarianism, pragmatism, and
suspicion coming into direct conflict with morality, altruism, and
self-sacrifice, Pitch Black is much more profound than the monster movie
that makes it one of horror fans' favorite films.
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